On Saturday afternoon, I went for a ride around Brussels using Villo! bicycles. I was looking for some street art by Muga. After I had found the piece I was looking for, I continued exploring the back streets by bike. After ending up at Place Jourdain, I decided the best way to get back up to the top of Ixelles was via the European Parliament. Here I found the prow of a beached trawler and was intrigued to see that it was for Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s campaign,commonly known as Hugh’s Fish fight. It is the follow up to the Channel 4 TV series, in which he publicised the crazy practices carried out on the seas and oceans around Europe.

As an individual, we often feel powerless to get big political institutions to change their course, but what we buy or refuse to buy has a bigger influence than our vote in many instances. The plight of the oceans is dire, with little projected to thrive in them other than jelly fish by 2030. Hugh’s Fish Fight is a campaign aimed at highlighting the shocking waste caused by the Common Fisheries Policies.

Hugh’s Fish Fight

Signing up for the petition is an easy move, but looking carefully at the fish and seafood we buy at home or on our travels can also make a huge difference. Much of the seafood on sale today is not from sustainable sources. One thing we can do is look for the MSC’s (Marine Stewardship Council) logo, to certify that the fish was from a sustainable fishing process. Even farmed fish are fed on unsustainably fished anchovies and the like.

On a positive note, on the Sunday I was in Diksmuide, Flanders, Belgium. Looking for somewhere to eat our evening meal and we decided to dine on a canal barge . We were pleasantly surprised to find that they took great care to only provide sustainably fished seafood. They did not use tuna and had an excellent vegetarian / vegan choice on their menu.   I’ll probably mention them in future post on Diksmuide, but in the meantime they can be found by the IJzer Tower. They are called Water en vuur (Water and Fire). The point is that some restaurants now do consider how sustainable the food they offer is. Supporting them is doing our bit, for the change we would like to see in the world.

More information on Hugh’s Fish Fight: http://www.fishfight.net/

I went out this afternoon to make an instructional video on using the Brussels Metro system. Unfortunately I forgot my STIB ticket so had to go and film something else. I decided to look at the Cyclocity bicycle hire scheme that I covered in an earlier post. I was shocked to find that the bicycles, docking stations and pay stations had been removed. All that was left were the Maps of the scheme.

A search of the internet reveals that they are to be replaced by a bigger scheme called “Villo!” that will kick off in May this year. Cyclocity only covered the Brussels Pentagone ( the area within the inner ring road, named due to its shape). The new scheme will cover much more of the city.

When I remember my STIB ticket and the new scheme is in place, I will attempt to remake the film. That is of course if I remember the video camera!

Here in Brussels the Cyclocity scheme is relatively new. It has been around in some cities since 2002. It allows the easy hire of bicycles in cities as you simply collect a cycle at one location and drop it off at another within the city centre. The stations are often no more than 300 metres apart and there are 23 of them within the Brussels Pentagone (Inner Ring Road). This gets around the biggest obstacle to bike hire in that your journey does not have to be a round trip returning to the hire shop. They are also available 24 hours per day, every day of the year not just when hire shops are open. The bicycles are all very clean and well maintained.
Prices are very competitive with a year card costing 10€ then each first half hour is 0.5€ and further hours at 0.5€. If you are visitor to the city then a week card is priced at 1.50€ with the first half hour at 0.5€ and each successive hour at 1€. Payment is made via debit / credit cards at payment meters. On the weekly card, the system adds up the total usage and debits one payment at the end of the week. On the yearly card payment is by direct debit on a regular basis.
The scheme is available at the following cities in Europe and I hope it soon spreads further.
Austria – Vienna
Belgium – Brussels
France – Aix en Provence, Amiens, Besançon, Lyon, Marseille, Mulhouse, Nantes, Paris, Rouen
Luxembourg – Luxembourg
Spain – Cordoba, Gijon, Seville
There are similar schemes at Toulouse and Nancy in France.
More details of the Cyclocity can be found here.
What experiences have you had with this type of self service bike hire? If you have not used it would you be tempted?